https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/425 Tue, 12 May 2026 23:31:28 GMT 2026-05-12T23:31:28Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/25809 Constitutionalisation of the rule of law in modern states: consequential or gesture politics? Mathenjwa, Mbuzeni Johnson The lecture is divided into four main themes. The first part explains the doctrine of the rule of law and the notion of constitutionalisation. The second part explores case studies on the adherence or non-adherence to the rule of law in selected European, American and African countries. In Europe, the position of Turkey and the United Kingdom (UK) in terms of their performance in the rule of law is discussed, as that of the United States of America’s (US) and, in Africa, that of Nigeria, Egypt, Kenya and South Africa. It is hoped that by selecting countries from Southern Africa, East Africa, West Africa and North Africa, the position of Africa in adhering to the rule of law will be fairly reflected. The reputation of the UK and the US with regard to adherence with the rule of law and the history of the military government in Turkey should fairly represent a global picture of the prevalence of the rule of law. The third part of this lecture explores the significance of constitutionalisation of the rule of law and the fourth part recommends measures that could be employed to improve the prevalence of the rule of law in modern democracies. Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/25809 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/23349 Are the perceived greater harms caused by hate crimes a plausible justification for the existence of hate-crime laws? Naidoo, Kamban Crimes that are motivated by prejudice or bias towards certain personal characteristics of the victim are commonly referred to as “hate crimes”. Such criminal conduct is said to cause greater harms than criminal conduct that is not motivated by bias or prejudice. Hate-crime laws are laws that specifically criminalise conduct motivated by bias or prejudice towards personal characteristics of the victim and laws that allow for the imposition of harsher penalties on convicted hate-crime perpetrators. This article attempts to find a plausible justification for the existence of hate-crime laws. The principal justification for the existence of hate-crime laws that will be considered in this submission are the greater harms that hate crimes cause to the victim, to the victim’s group and extended community and to society as a whole. Since hate-crimes are presently not recognised as a specific category of criminal conduct in South-African criminal law and specific laws do not exist to sentence the convicted perpetrators of hate crimes, consideration is given to whether a hate-crime law should be enacted in South Africa Fri, 01 Jan 2016 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/23349 2016-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/8892 Bakhoele Bafokeng ba 'Mantsukunyane oa Kata-Sefiri Mahao, Nqosa Leuta Sat, 01 Jan 2011 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/8892 2011-01-01T00:00:00Z https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4738 O se re ho morwa 'morwa towe!' African jurisprudence exhumed Mahao, Nqosa L. The article is an intervention in the discourse around African jurisprudence and its relevance to contemporary post-colonial African society. It repudiates suggestions that African jurisprudence (botho/ubuntu) is unenlightened and inconsistent with the progressive values undergirding the South African Constitution. Drawing lessons largely from the pre-colonial 18th century history of the Basotho kingdom, the article explores how popular participation in that system was a leitmotif of democratic accountability. It lays bare a number of doctrines that abetted the efficacy, effectiveness and accountability of the political system. African jurisprudence also practised human dignity in a way that pulled into harmony formal and substantive justice. It contends that in African jurisprudence human dignity was indivisible. Political and civil freedoms were not separable from socio-economic rights. Finally, the article reviews how the doctrine 'O se re ho Morwa: 'morwa towe!' not only ensured respect and dignity of every citizen, but was also the anchor of social cohesion and harmony in a multi-cultural society. Mon, 01 Nov 2010 00:00:00 GMT https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4738 2010-11-01T00:00:00Z